Container for charging openhearth furnaces



June 28, 1966 T. H. KEEN CONTAINER FOR CHARGING OPEN-HEARTH FURNACES 6Sheets-Sheet 1 Original Filed Jan. 21, 1963 Tu nns 00. Kay

Asim- June 28, 1966 T. H. KEEN CONTAINER FOR CHARGING OPEN-HEARTHFURNACES 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 Original Filed Jan. 21, 1963 luvEM1oR rms H.Keen o w w AGE Ndi June 28, 1966 T. H. KEEN CONTAINER FOR CHARGINGOPENHEARTH FURNACES June 28, 1966 T. H. KEEN CONTAINER FOR CHARGINGOPEN-HEARTH FURNACES 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 Original Filed Jan. 21, 1963Mini-ruff,

THwns H. Keen June 28, 1966 T. H. KEEN CONTAINER FOR CHARGINGOPEN-HEARTH FURNACES 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 Original Filed Jan. 21. 1963Ml/ENTOfl.

Taams H. Keen June 28, 1966 T. H. KEEN CONTAINER FOR CHARGINGOPEN-HEARTH FURNACES 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 Original Filed Jan. 21, 1963vaowqs H. Keen Unitcd States Patent 3,258,138 CONTAINER FOR CHARGINGOPEN- HEARTH FURNACES Thomas H. Keen, Pcnmarir, near Barry, Wales,assignor to G. K. N. Steel Company Limited, a British company Originalapplication Jan. 21, 1963, Ser. No. 252,652, now Patent No. 3,212,653,dated Oct. 19, 1965. Divided and this application Apr. 20, 1965, Ser.No. 457,895 Claims priority, application Great Britain, Jan. 24, 1962,2,670/62; June 22, 1962, 24,051/62 Claims. (Cl. 214-35) This applicationis a division of application Serial No. 252,652, filed Jan. 21, 1963,and now Patent No. 3,212,653, granted October 19, 1965.

This invention relates to the charging of open-hearth steel furnaces,and is concerned in particular with the charging of scrap metal, moreespecially steel scrap to open-hearth steel furnaces.

At present the usual method of charging scrap metal in particular steelscrap as well as other solid materials to open-hearth furnaces is toload the materials in openmouthed containers of relatively small sizeusually having a capacity of the order of 30 cubic feet, thesecontainers particularly in the case of steel and other metal scrap,being loaded at a scrap bay or other location remote from the meltingshop, whereupon a large number of these small size containers aretransported on a number of coupled together low loading wagons alongrails leading from the scrap bay or other remote location to thecharging platform at which several so loaded containers on each wagoncommonly five containers to a wagon, are picked up by a charging machinewhich traverses the charging platform so as to pick up each of theloaded containers in turn, advance them in a horizontal directionthrough one of the charging openings of the open-hearth furnace, andthereupon invert the container so as to discharge the scrap metal orother contents into the melt; the charging machine repeating thecharging operation for each of the several containers on each of theseveral wagons commonly eight to fifteen in all, the train of wagonsbeing advanced from time to time up to the charging platform as thecharging proceeds.

Such a method of charging open-hearth furnaces with solid materialalthough it has been practiced universally for at least the past 40years and in many cases for over a considerably longer period, has for along time been known to be open to a number of serious objections. Theseobjections principally are:

(l) The containers are of a relatively small capacity, their size beingrestricted by the relatively small size of the charging opening and thefact that it is necessary bodily to advance the whole of the containerinto the interior of the furnace.

(2) In consequence of the small capacity of the containers when loadedwith scrap metal of an awkward shape or of a bulky nature, the weight ofscrap metal in the container may be only a minor proportion of themaximum load capacity of the container so that the charging operationbecomes very inefficient. 1

(3) The time taken to charge successive containers into the furnace iscomparatively long and commonly results in a charging frequency over thewhole charging period of 1 container every 2 minutes, and as in afurnace of 200 to 300 ton capacity, which is a very common furnace size,it is commonly necessary to supply no less than between 70 and 80 loadedcontainers to the furnace the total charging time may Well be of theorder of 2 /2 to 3 hours.

(4) The foregoing charging time commonly of the order of 3 hours is asubstantial proportion of the total time for the entire furnace cyclewhich is commonly of the order of 8 to 10 hours, and material fed to thefurnace 3,258,138 Patented June 28, 1966 at the beginning of thischarging period will obviously be subjected to a considerably longerperiod of melting than material fed to the furnace at the end of thecharging period, so that it is impossible uniformly and closely tocontrol the melting of the whole of the charge and this is obviouslyundesirable in that a close control over the entire melting operation isdesirable if the most satisfactory and most uniform product is to beobtained.

(5) Each time a container of this relatively small size is fed into thefurnace the charging door must be fully opened so that the heat lossduring the entire charging period of a single melt may be quitesubstantial.

The present invention has for its object the provision of a new orimproved method of charging as well as a new or improved apparatus forcharging, scrap metal, to openhearth steel furnaces which is believed toavoid the whole of the foregoing disadvantages of the existing practiceas above described.

According to the present invention I provide a method of charging scrapmetal into an open-hearth steel furnace comprising the steps of:

A. Providing an elongated container having a discharge opening at oneend namely, a discharge end thereof and a capacity including an overalldimension sufficiently great as to preclude complete insertion of theloaded container within the interior of the furnace through a chargingopening thereof.

B. Loading the container with the scrap metal at a scrap bay or otherloading location spaced away from the charging platform of the meltingshop.

C. Transporting the so loaded container from the loading location on tothe charging platform of the openhearth furnace.

D. Engaging the discharge end of the container with fulcrum means on thefurnace exterior adjacent the charging opening thereof so as toorientate the discharge opening of the container with a charging openingof the furnace.

E. Supporting part of the .weight of the loaded container from thefurnace and elevating the end of the container opposite to the dischargeend while permitting of the discharge end fulcruming on the said fulcrummeans carried by the furnace to dispose the container in a position inwhich it is downwardly inclined to the horizontal in a direction towardsthe charging opening of the furnace so as to be adapted to dischargescrap metal gravitationally through said charging opening.

F. Supporting the scrap metal from beneath for gravitational flow fromthe interior of the container at least substantially to the inner edgeof the sill of said charging opening and,

G. Effecting gravitational discharge of the scrap metal from thecontainer into the furnace.

The present invention further comprises a method of charging scrap metalinto an open hearth steel furnace comprising providing a mobile powerdriven vehicle having means displaceably supporting thereon an elongatedcontainer for scrap metal in both a lower transporting position and alsoan upper discharge position with the longitudinal axis of the elongatedcontainer downwardly inclined to the horizontal, said method furthercomprising the steps of:

A. Providing an elongated container having a discharge opening at oneend namely, a discharge end thereof and a capacity including an overalldimension sufficiently great as to preclude complete insertion of theloaded container within the interior of the furnace through a chargingopening thereof.

B. Loading the container with the scrap bay or other loading locationspaced away from the charging platform of the melting shop.

C. Transporting the so loaded container by the vehicle from the loadinglocation on to the charging platform of the open hearth furnace.

D. 'Maneuvering the vehicle on the charging platform so as to engage thedischarge end of the container with fulcrum means on the furnaceexterior adjacent the charging opening thereof and orientating thedischarge opening of the container a charging opening of the furnace.

E. Elevating the end of the container opposite to the discharge endwhile fulcruming the discharge end of the container on the said fulcrummeans carried by the furnace to dispose the container in a position inwhich it is downwardly inclined to the horizontal in a direction towardsthe charging opening of the furnace so as to be adapted to dischargescrap metal gravitationally through said charging opening.

F. Supporting the scrap metal from beneath for gravitational flow fromthe interior of the container at least substantially to the inner edgeof the sill of said charging opening and,

G. Effecting gravitational discharge of the scrap metal from thecontainer into the furnace.

It is accordingly an essential and characteristic feature of the methodof charging open hearth steel furnaces as above set forth that thecontainer which is loaded at the scrap bay or other loading location issubsequently discharged through the or one of the charging openings ofthe furnace, i.e., the present invention specifically excludes from itsambit any method of charging in which the scrap metal is transferredfrom one container to another on or adjacent to the charging platform ofthe furnace.

The invention further comprises an open hearth steel furnaceinstallation which is characterised by the combination of the followingfeatures:

i. The provision of a plurality of scrap and other solid materialcharging containers, each container being of elongated configurationhaving at one end thereof namely, a discharge end, a discharge openingwith an associated discharge door and a capacity including anoveralldimension sufficiently great as to preclude insertion of theloaded container through the charging opening of the furnace wholly intothe interior of the furnace.

ii. Inter-engageable fulcrum means provided both on the furnace adjacenteach charging opening thereof and on the container adjacent thedischarge end thereof adapted to orientate the discharge end of thecontainer with the charging opening of the furnace and permit of thecontainer fulcruming relative to the furnace from a lower substantiallyhorizontal position to an upper discharge position.

iii. Elevating means adapted to raise said elongated container from saidlower substantially horizontal position to an upper discharge position,with the container fulcruming in so doing on said fulcrum means so as toraise the end of the container opposite to the discharge end into aposition in which the container is inclined downwardly to the horizontalin a direction towards the discharge opening to effect gravitationaldischarge of its containers, and

iv. Means on the container adapted to support the material from beneathduring its gravitational flow from the interior of the container to aposition at least substantially adjacent the inner edge of the sill ofthe charging opening.

The invention further comprises apparatus for charging an open hearthsteel furnace with scrap and other solid material comprising:

i. A vehicle provided with supporting wheels driven from a power unit onthe vehicle so that the latter can be advanced to the charging platformof the furnace from a loading position located away from said platform.

ii. A container of elongated configuration adapted to contain scrap andother solid material to be charged into the furnace.

iii. A discharge opening at one end namely, a discharge end of saidelongated container.

iv. Means on the vehicle for detachably supporting said container, fromthe vehicle.

v. Fulcrum means on the container adjacent the discharge end adapted topermit of the container fulcruming relative to the furnace from a lowersubstantially horizontal position to an upper discharge position.

-vi. Said vehicle supporting means being adapted to raise said elongatedcontainer from a lower transporting position to an upper dischargeposition about said fulcrum means in which in the direction of itslength, the container is inclined downwardly to the horizontal in adirection towards the discharge opening to effect gravitationaldischarge of its containers, and

vii. Means on the container adapted to support the material from beneathduring its gravitational flow from the interior of the container to aposition at least substantially adjacent the inner edge of the sill ofthe charging opening.

In the case where the container is detachably supported as abovedescribed from a vehicle the arrangement is such that the material canbe loaded at a location spaced away from the furnace charging platforminto a container separate from the vehicle, and the so-loaded containersubsequently picked up by said vehicle supporting means and transportedby the vehicle to the charging platform and advanced by the same vehicleto the charging opening of the furnace to effect gravitational dischargeinto the furnace of the material previously loaded into the container ata location spaced from the charging platform of the furnace of thematerial.

With the present invention insofar as the material is dischargedgravitationally from the container through the charging opening of thefurnace as opposed to the whole container being projected through thecharging opening into the interior of the furnace, the container can bemade of a much larger capacity than is possible with the existing methodabove referred to and may, for example, readily have a capacity of atleast cubic feet, and at least some four or five times and in many casessome ten or twelve times the capacity of the containers as at presentused. It follows from this that the present invention provides thefollowing advantages over the existing method of charging, namely:

a. As the capacity of each single container is very much larger it canmuch more readily and efliciently be filled to capacity with scrap metalof an awkward or bulky shape. Also as the container from which thematerial is to be discharged into the furnace can be loaded at leisureat the scrap bay or other location spaced away from the chargingplatform, there is ample time to orientate the material where this is ofa bulky or awkward shape, so as to ensure that when the contents of thecontainer are discharged, the material readily flows gravitationallyfrom the container into the furnace. Quite apart from the facility forsuch orientation provided by the larger container which can be employedwith the present invention, the present invention avoids thedisadvantage of providing a specially designed charging machine of whichthe container forms an integral non-detachable part an arrangement whichwould necessitate very rapid filling of the container in order that thecharging machine may be efiiciently utilized and the furnace chargingtime reduced as far as possible, so that in the employment of suchspecially designed charging machine with its integral container, thereis then no time available for orientating the bulky or awkward shapes ofscrap material to facilitate its ready charging into the furnace.

b. Quite apart from the saving in charging time arising from theeflicient use of each container, there is a further important saving ofcharging time by reason of the large mass of material which is fed intothe furnace during the discharge of each single container to the furnacethan is the case with the relatively small capacity containers hithertoemployed.

c. The present invention eliminates the customary bulky and very costlyand elaborately constructed furnace charging machine with its largenumber of small size separate containers as at present employed, andwhich traverses the charging platform; while the arrangement permits ofthe scrap metal being fed either simultaneously into the furnace througheach of the several charging openings, or successively from each of anumber of containers corresponding one to each charging opening over avery short period of time so that the whole charging operation of solidmaterial, in particular scrap metal commonly of the order of 60 to 90tons weight of scrap metal for each 200 ton total furnace charge, can becompleted in a matter of a few minutes as opposed to some 2 /2 to 3hours.

d. An important reduction in overall cycle time of the furnace can beeffected, so that it is believed that with furnaces in continuousoperation, as is of course the normal practice, six additional melts perworking week can be obtained in ordinary open hearth steel furnacepractice so that an important increase in output of a given size steelmelting plant can be effected.

e. Insofar as the overall charging time is greatly reduced and thenumber of times during each melt that the charging doors have to beopened to receive the material is greatly reduced, an importantreduction in heat loss through each charging opening is effected.

One of the difficulties in gravitationally charging an open hearth steelfurnace is the width or thickness of the sill of the charging openingwhich may commonly be as great overall as some 4 ft., and it isessential that the material during charging should be supported frombeneath as it flows gravitationally from the interior of the containerto a position substantially adjacent the inner edge of the sill. If thematerial is not supported in this way it may build up on the sill andvery rapidly jam or block the charging opening.

The foregoing feature of supporting the material from beneath as itadvances from the container gravitationally into the furnace is,therefore, of considerable practical importance.

This support may be provided merely by a part of the discharge end ofthe container which is normally fixed in relation to the containers orit may be constituted by a telescopically extensible discharge chute tothe container which is extended only at the commencement of the chargingoperation so as to project from the base of the container substantiallyto the inner edge of the sill, or it may be provided by fitting thedischarge end of the container with an end discharge door which hingesdownwardly about the adjacent discharge edge of the container base so asto provide an extension thereof, along which the material flows out ofcontact with the furnace sill.

Such supporting of the material from beneath during charging is alsoeffectively ensured by the fact that the fulcrum means referred toorientate the discharge opening of the container with the chargingopening to the furnace, and thus effectively avoids the material beinginadvertently discharged onto the charging opening sill.

Having regard to the foregoing width of the sill of each chargingopening of an open hearth steel furnace the present invention isconsidered to be particularly practicable as applied to the charging ofopen hearth steel furnaces of the tilting type which during charging canbe tilted so that the plane of the charging opening is substantiallyperpendicular to the path of gravitational flow of the material from thecontainer, i.e. so as to dispose the upper face of the sill at the sameor substantially the same inclination to the horizontal as that of thecontainer base in its charging position, which in practice is at least27 to about 30 to the horizontal.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation depiciting one form of scrap metalcontainer mounted on a mobile power driven vehicle, the container beingdepicted in the transporting position but with its discharge endorientated with and extending within a charging opening of an openhearth furnace.

FIGURE 2 is a view similar to FIGURE 1 but showing the container raisedinto its discharge position.

FIGURE 3 is a plan view of the container depicted in FIGURES 1 and 2.

FIGURE 4 is a side elevation to an enlarged scale of the discharge endof the container depicted in FIGURE 1, the container being shown in thelower transporting position.

FIGURE 5 is a detailed view of the fulcrum connection between thecontainer and the furnace front showing the parts in the positioncorresponding to the raised or charging position of the container.

FIGURE 6 is a plan view to an enlarged scale of the discharge end of thecontainer depicted in FIGURE 3, the container being disposed in thelower transporting position.

FIGURES 7, 8 and 9 are all cross sectional views on the lines 7-7, 8-8and -9 respectively of FIGURE 6.

FIGURE 10 is a cross sectional view to an enlarged scale on the lineI010 of FIGURE 3.

FIGURE 11 is a diagrammatic plan view of an alternative construction ofcontainer.

Referring-to FIGURES 1 to 10 of the drawings the invention is heredepicted as applied to the charging of an open hearth steel furnace 10,the particular furnace illustrated being what is known in the art as atilting furnace and being provided in its front 11 in a-known mannerwith a number of charging openings, one ofwhich openings I2 is showndisposed in the known manner above a horizontal charging platform 13.

Each of these openings including the illustrated opening 12 is of thesize conventional in open hearth furnace practice, i.e. each opening hasa horizontal Width of the order of four ft. and a height of the order offour ft. as measured from the upper edge of the sill 14 of the openingto the underside of the customary vertically movable charging openingdoor 12a, considering this as shown in FIGURES 1 and 2 in the fullyopen, i.e. fully raised position.

The sill 14 in accordance with customary open hearth furnace practicehas a substantial width or thickness as measured in a substantiallyhorizontal direction inwardly from the furnace front 11, such thicknessin the construction illustrated being about 3 /2 ft.

Such furnace including its charging platform 13 as so far described isconventional, but pursuant to the present invention the furnace isprovided on each side of each of the charging openings 12 with hearingbracket 15, the two bearing brackets associated with each chargingopening 12 being horizontally aligned and disposed at a heightsubstantially level with the upper edge of the adjacent sill 14.

Each of these bearing brackets 15 is adapted to provide fulcrum meansfor engaging with and orientating the dis-- charge end of the scrapmetal container as later described and as will be more particularly fromFIGURE 5, each bracket 15 embodies two vertically spaced forwardlyprojecting arms 16, 17, the lower of these two arms 16 having its upperside 18 of bevelled configuration and being inclined downwardly to thehorizontal in a direction towards the extremity of the arm 16,considering the tilting furnace 10 in its charging position as depictedin FIGURES 1 and 2.

There is thus provided between the two arms 16, 17 and each bearingbracket 21 trunnion receiving opening 19 which as shown extend into arecessed portion 20 formed in the adjacent lower side of the upper arm17 which upper arm at its extremity is formed with a downwardlyextending locking portion 21.

As will be apparent from FIGURE 6, the two brackets 15 adjacent eachcharging opening 12 are of flat form in cross section so as to havevertically extending side faces 22.

The furnace is provided with a number of containers in accordance withthis invention for charging the scrap metal into the furnace and inpractice the number of containers provided for each furnace will bedependent on the furnace size, size of scrap metal and other solidmaterial charge and the container capacity. In the example heredescribed the number of containers provided is equal to the number ofcharging openings of the furnace. Thus, where as is quite common thenumber of charging openings to each furnace are five, each furnace wouldbe provided with five containers for the scrap metal, one of which isdepicted at 23.

In the optimum operation of the present invention it is considered thatcomplete scrap metal charging of a conventional open hearth furnace ofcapacity of the order of 200 to 300 tons for example, can be affected bymeans of a single charging operation through each of the severalcharging openings 12, from a container 23, in accordance with thisinvention so that as soon as each of the containers in number equal ofthe number of charging openings have each discharged their contentsthrough a corresponding charging opening, the scrap metal charging ofthe furnace is completed.

As best shown in FIGURE 3, each scrap metal container 23 is of generallyrectangular channel form in cross section comprising a fiat base 24 anda pair of vertical sides 25, 26, with the upper side of the containerbeing completely open.

As will be apparent from the drawings the container 23 is of markedlyelongated configuration, the overall length of the material containingportion of the container, i.e. excluding its discharge end, beingconveniently of the order of about 23 ft., the container having avertical inside depth of the order of 2 /2 ft., and an inside width ofrather more than ft. except nearer its discharge end so that the storagecapacity of the container is very considerable, a container of theforegoing preferred dimensions having a cubic capacity of the order of300 cubic ft. so that each container is adapted to hold approximately 17to 25 tons of steel scrap, the precise tonnage varying somewhat belowand above this figure according to whether the scrap is in bulky orcompact form.

The capacity of the container and thus its overall dimension isaccordingly very substantial and is in fact so great that the loadedcontainer is quite incapable of being fully inserted within the interiorof the furnace through one of the charging openings thereof so that thecontainer, the subject of the present invention, is wholly different inthat respect from the small size containers at present customarily usedin charging open hearth furnaces and which are adapted to be disposedwholly within the furnace through one of the charging openings duringthe charging operation.

As best shown in FIGURE 10 each container is built up from plates 27which provide the floor and sides of the container, these plates 27being reinforced on their outer faces by reinforcing members 28 of angleand channel configuration which extend longitudinally of the containerand are connected together at intervals along the length of thecontainer by bracing plates 29 which extend along the vertical sides andbeneath the floor of the container. As shown in FIGURE 3, one end 30 ofthe channel section container, namely the end remote from the dischargeend, is closed and the two sides 25, 26 of the container althoughparallel to one another over the major length of the container convergetowards one another at 31, 32, so that the container embodies aconverging throat portion 33, the two converging parts 31, 32 of thecontainer sides terminating in mutually parallel portions 34, 35, whichconstitute a container discharge end 36, which is also of rectangularchannel form in cross section.

As will be apparent from FIGURES 3 and 7, this discharge end has aninternal width substantially one-half of the internal width of thecontainer at a position intermediate its converging throat portion andthe outer or closed end as will be readily apparent from a comparisonbetween FIGURE 7 and FIGURE 10.

The discharge end 36 of the container is provided with a discharge noseor chute 37 also of rectangular channel configuration but having theupper edge 38 of its two sides downwardly inclined relative to the nosefloor 39 in a direction towards the extremity 40 of the nose, thearrangement being such that the vertical depth of the nose extremity 40is considerably less than the vertical inside depth of the containeritself, e.g. this vertical depth of the nose extremity may be of theorder of 6 ins.

Asshown in FIGURE 4, the floor or base 39 of the nose is inclinedupwardly towards its extremity considering the container in thehorizontal transporting position, and such upward inclination of thefloor 39 and the aforementioned downward inclination of the upper edge38 of each side of the nose facilitates the insertion of the nose withinthe charging opening 12 and further permits of the container beingelevated from the horizontal transporting position depicted in FIGURE 1,to the inclined charging position depicted in FIGURE 2 without theunderside of the nose floor 39 fouling-the adjacent part of the chargingopening sill 14.

The nose 37 is connected detachably to the adjacent part of thecontainer by bolts 41, the arrangement permitting of the nose which isliable to warp and become damaged as a result of exposure to the furnaceinterior being replaced from time to time without replacing any otherpart of the container, but it should be understood that for the purposeof the present invention the nose 37 is considered to constitute anextension to the discharge end 36 of the container.

Adjacent to where the two converging sides 31, 32, of the containermerge with the parallel sides 35, 34 of the discharge end 36, the latteris provided with a discharge door 42. As shown in FIGURE 8 this door ishinged at 43 along its lower edge to the adjacent part of the containerfloor 24 so as to be displaceable from the vertically upstanding closedposition depicted in full outline in FIGURE 8 into the open or dischargeposition depicted in dashed line in this figure in which the door lieson the adjacent part of the container floor 24.

The door is releasably locked in its closed position by a pair oflocking catches 44 mounted in spaced relation upon transverselyextending spindle 45, the spindle being supported for rotation intrunnion brackets 46 carried on the two sides 34, 35, of the dischargeend of the container and one end of the spindle which projects beyondone of these trunnions being formed as shown in FIGURE 4 with adependent locking portion 47, the extremity of which is adapted toengage within the recessed end 48 of a vertically sildable locking bolt49 loaded by spring 50 into the locking position illustrated in FIGURE4, the bolt 49 being adapted to be pulled downwardly by discharge doorrelease cable 51 to free the locking portion 47 whereupon the door 42 atonce swings about its pivot 43 into the open position under the weightof the container contents considering the container in the inclinedcharging position depicted in FIGURE 2.

As has earlier been described, the width of the main portion of thecontainer 23 is greater than, i.e. substantially twice the width of thedischarge end 34. Such increased width in relation to the width of thedischarge end 34 is provided to increase the bulk capacity of thecontainer so as to permit of the part of the furnace adjacent eachcharging opening being charged completely by a single container withoutincurring the considerable expense of substantially increasing theoverall size of charging openings of existing furnaces, and withoutmakdischarge end during charging particularly having regard.

to the irregular and at times extremely bulky nature of each individualscrap component.

The foregoing potential difiiculty is, however, wholly taken care of bydividing the container into two cells or compartments 52, 53, of equalwidth, i.e. corresponding to the width of the discharge end 36 byproviding the container between the two parallel sides 25, 26 with acentrally upstanding dividing partition 54, supported from the containerbase 23 as shown in FIGURE 10.

This partition 54 extends continuously from the closed end 30 to aposition adjacent the commencement of the converging throat 33 and herehas hinged thereto at 55 for hinging movement about a vertical axis acompartment door 56 and which is adapted to swing about such axis 55from its normal position depicted in full outline in FIGURES 3 and 6 inwhich it provides a closure for'compartment 53 into the dashed lineposition depicted in FIG- URE 6 in which compartment 53 is now open tothe discharge end 36.

The length of the door 56 in a direction from its hinge 55 to its freeedge 57 is such that in either of these two positions it is respectivelyparallel to the converging sides 32, 31 respectively.

Thus, considering the compartment door 56 in the full line positiondepicted in FIGURES 3 and 6, the width of the space along which duringcharging material is required to flow from compartment 52, is constantright up to and including the discharge nose 37 of the discharge end 36and the same applies in the case of compartment 53 considering the door56 in the other of its two positions, namely the dashed line position.It will further be noted that in each of these two positions the freeedge 57 of the door 56 abuts against the adjacent converging side of thecontainer throat 33 and the door tends to be held in such aforementioneddesired position by the pressure of the material flowing to thedischarge end of the container.

The door 56 is held in its normal full line position dcpicted in FIGURES3 and 6 by a latch lever 58, see FIG- URE 9, hinged at 59 to theadjacent converging side 31, the outer end of the lever being connectedto compartment door pull cable 60 and it will be appreciated that whenthis cable is pulled, the nose 61 on the latching lever is raised tofree the door 56.

The latching lever 58 can be of comparatively light construction sincein practice referring to FIGURE 3 and considering the door 56 in thefull line position, compartment 52 will be filled with material right upto the discharge door 42 so as to lie between door 56 and container side32, thus taking part of the weight of the contents of the fully loadedcompartment 53 considering the container in the inclined chargingposition. With such an arrangement compartment 52 would be emptied firstand at once the latch 58 would be operated by cable 60 so that thecompartment door 56 would at once under the weight of the contents incompartment 53, swing across the now 10 container from the loadinglocation on to the charging platform 13 of the melting shop and tomaneuver the container on the charging platform into a position in whichits discharge end 34 is aligned with the desired charging opening 12.

The vehicle 62 is further provided with elevating means 65 driven fromthe power unit 63. Such elevating means are adapted to be connected tothe container 23 at a position substantially nearer to the closed endthereof 30 than the discharge end 36. Such vehicle 62 as so fardescribed is known and the details thereof form no part of the presentinvention.

The vehicle elevating means 65 is connected to the aforementioned partof the container 23 by providing each of the sides 25, 26, thereof withtransversely aligned elevating trunnion brackets 66 having transverselyextending trunnion portions 67 on each of which is pivoted centrally ofits length, lever 68. The two ends of each lever 68 are pivotallyconnected to lifting shackles 69 which through lifting cables generallydesignated at 70 in FIGURES l and 2 are connected to the elevating means65 of the vehicle 62.

The vehicle 62 is further provided with abutment means 71 on which theunderside of the container 23 intermediate the discharge end 36 and thelifting levers 68 is adapted to rest so as to support the loadedcontainer in a stable manner in its horizontal transporting position asdepicted in FIGURE 1.

The discharge end 36 of the container 23 is provided on its undersidenear its connection with the detachable nose 37 with a trunnion member72 in the form of a stout circular shaft secured rigidly by bracingplate 73 to opposite sides of the discharge end of the container so thatthe trunnion member 72 extends perpendicularly transverse to the lengthof the container 23 immediately beneath the underside of the dischargeend 36 adjacent its connection to the nose 37.

The trunnion member 72 has a length greater than the horizontal width ofthe charging opening 12 which horizontal width as earlier stated isappreciably greater than the width of the discharge end 36 of thecontainer and the two end portions 74 of the trunnion member 72 are eachadapted to extend between the two arms 16, 17 on one of the two brackets15, provided at each side of the charging opening so that these portions74 constitute trunnion portions adapted to engage pivotally with theinner end of the aforementioned bracket openings 19 which inner end isshaped to part circular configuration corresponding to that the trunnionmember 72 to provide a part circular bearing surface 75, see FIGURE 5,on which the trunnion member 72 can fulcrum as the container is raisedby the 15 in engagement with the trunnion portions 74.

Each of these trunnion portions 74 is provided with a locking lug 76which extends away from the nose 37 so as to be upwardly inclined to thehorizontal at an angle empty compartments 52 into the dashed lineposition depicted in FIGURES 3 and 6 to effect discharge of compartment53.

The container 23 as so far described, is adapted for mounting on atransporting vehicle 62 which is depicted in FIGURES 1 and 2. Thistransporting vehicle is pro- 1 of around 30 considering the containeritself horizontal and the extremity of each of these locking lugs 76 isadapted to extend within the aforementioned bracket recess 20 so as toover-lie the bracket locking portion 21 aforementioned, when thecontainer 23 is in the inclined charging position so as then effectivelyto preclude any possibility of the trunnion member 72 becomingdisengaged from the fulcrum brackets 15 during charging. As will benoted from FIGURE 4, when the container is. in the horizontaltransporting position, the upper side of each locking lug 76 issubstantially flush with the upper side of the adjacent trunnion portion74 so that the charging nose 37 of the container when horizontal canreadily be projected into or withdrawn from the charging opening 12.

Each trunnion portion 74 at a position intermediate each locking lug 76and bracing bracket 73 is provided with an upstanding locating lug 77adapted to engage with the adjacent side face 22 of the correspondingfulcrum bracket 15 for the purpose of locating the discharge end 36 in alateral sense relative to the charging opening.

The container 23 is provided intermediate its two ends with two pairs oflifting eyes 78 carried by lifting brackets 79 secured to each of thetwo sides 25 26, 31 32, of the container and these permit of thecontainer, if detached at any time from the vehicle 62, being lifted byhoists such as travelling cranes as are customarily provided in the roofof the melting shop above the charging platform 13, thus permitting ifdesired of these hoists, maneuvering the loaded container intothe-horizontal position immediately prior to charging as depicted inFIGURE 1 and by suitable manipulation of the hoists of the containerbeing brought into the inclined charging position depicted in FIGURE 2.

The container is further provided with an inclinometer comprisingpointer 80 freely pivoted at its upper end 81 and which co-acts withangle measuring scale 82, whereby the inclination of the underside ofthe container to the horizontal in the charging position can readily bedetermined if desired and thus the degree of inclination controlled.

In operation, the containers 23 constructed as above described areloaded at the scrap bay or other loading location with the scrap metalusually steel scrap, to which may be added ore, limestone, coal, pigiron and other unmelted materials, loading being performed with thecontainers removed from the vehicle 62 unless maneuver of the containerby the vehicle during loading is required. Any such maneuvering may ofcourse be affected by the usual scrap bay hoists which would beconnected to the lifting eyes 78. The loaded container as mounted on thevehicle 62, is now transported in the horizontal position depicted inFIGURE 1 to the charging platform 13 of the melting shop.

In a steel works of substantial size embodying a large number ofopen-hearth furnaces, it may be found most satisfactory to provide thesame number of vehicles as there are charging openings to each singlefurnace thereby permitting of all of the containers for charging onefurnace, namely the same number of containers as charging openings beingassembled together on the appropriate section of the charging platform13 and the several openings being charged successively one by eachcontainer with the minimum time interval between each charging operationa greater time interval being of course required in the event that onlyone vehicle is provided as in that case time must be taken between eachcharging operation to detach the empty container from a vehicle and toattach a full one. Where the same number of vehicles as chargingopenings are provided all of the openings may, if desired, be chargedsimultaneously. Where this preferred larger number of vehicles isprovided it will be understood that subsequent to the charging of onefurnace the same vehicles would then be used to charge other furnaces,the containers for which in the meantime had been loaded in the scrapbay while detached from the vehicles.

Whatever arrangement is adopted prior to charging the furnace is tiltedso as to raise its front 11 and bring the same into a position in whichit is inclined to the vertical in a rearwardly upward direction relativeto the charging platform 13, thus raising the fulcrum brackets to aheight in relation to platform 13 at which the bracket openings 19 arelevel with the trunnion portions 74 on the container considering thelatter in its transporting position depicted in FIGURE 1. Suchinclination of the furnace front 11 also facilitates the flow of thecharged material towards the back of the furnace. Although it should beunderstood that if desired with the present invention it is perfectlypossible to charge nontilting open-hearth furnaces by increasing thevertical depth of the charging door opening to bring the containerdischarge end nose 37 clear of the sill 14 when in the chargingposition. As so applied, the bracket openings 12 19 of such non-tiltingfurnace would be so positioned as to be horizontally aligned with thetrunnion portions 74 of the container as depicted in FIGURE 1.

The charging door 12a is now raised into the open position and theloaded container 23 in the horizontal transporting position depicted inFIGURE 1 is now advanced by its vehicle 62 with the trunnion member 72level with the fulcrum bracket openings 19 until the trunnion member hasengaged with the fulcrum brackets as shown in FIGURES 4 and 6 in whichposition the nose 37 of the discharge end 36 projects beyond the innerend of the sill 14 into the furnace interior.

In this position of the container 23, the latter is so disposed inrelation to the vehicle 62 that the trunnion portions 67 are disposed atthe vertical side of the vehicle elevating means 65 which is furthestfrom the furnace, such disposition being permitted by the flexibleconnection of the container to the vehicle by the lifting cables 70which in this position of the container depicted in FIGURE 1 are in adownward direction inclined to the vertical away from the furnace. Thecables 70 gradually approach a vertical position as depicted in FIGURE 2as the elevating means 65 on the vehicle 62 is now operated to raise thecontainer into the inclined charging position depicted in FIGURE 2,during which elevating movement the trunnion member 72 fulcrums asalready described, on the fulcrum brackets 15. A large part of theweight of the loaded container is now taken by the fulcrum brackets 15.Elevation of the container is continued until as depicted in FIGURE 2,the floor 24 of the container is inclined to the horizontal, namely atan angle of at least about 27 to 30 or more than 30 if desired, i.e. asdepicted in FIGURE 2, which angle of inclination is sufficient to ensurefree gravitational flow of the material from the container into thefurnace interior.

The cable 51 is now pulled to release the lock holding the dischargedoor 42 in the closed position, whereupon the door at once swings downinto the horizontal open position under the weight of the containercontents and compartment 52 empties with extreme rapidity, the emptyingtime for the entire compartment having capacity of the order of 9 to 14tons being around one to two seconds. The cable 60 is now pulled torelease compartment door 56 which at once swings into the dashed lineposition depicted in FIGURES 3 and 6 under the weight of the contents ofthe compartment 53 and which are of the order of 8 to 11 tons, whichcontents are discharged into the furnace in a similarly very shortperiod of time. Thus, once the container has been disposed in thecharging position depicted in FIGURE 2 the whole of the contents thereofamounting to approximately 17 to 25 tons in all in the example describedmay be discharged into the furnace in an overall time of some fiveseconds.

During the charging operation the base 39 of the nose 37 serves tosupport to scrap metal from beneath for gravitational flow from theinterior of the container to the inner end of the sill 14 as will beapparent from FIGURE 5, in which the position of the inner end of thesill is depicted in relation to the extremity of the nose 40 up to whichthe base 39 extends. In other words the base 39 of the nose serves toensure that the material is discharged into the furnace clear of thesill 14 at least as far as the inner end of the sill, i.e. there is noquestion of material being discharged on to the outer end of the silladjacent the base of the charging opening 12, and thus blocking thecharging opening, with the result that a portion of the contents of thecontainer may then be discharged down the space between the tiltingfurnace front and the adjacent charging platform, or over the floor ofthe platform so as to impede the work of the melting shop.

It will further be understood from the foregoing description that thedischarge of the material from the container 23 is effected entirelygravitationally, ie no 13 form of pusher ram or equivalent device isprovided for positively feeding the material from the container into thefurnace.

Immediately. the container is emptied as above described, the vehicleelevating means 65 is operated to return the container to the horizontalposition so as to bring the trunnion locking lugs 76 clear of thefulcrum bracket locking portions 21 and permit of the container beingwithdrawn in the direction of its length clear of the charging opening,the door 12a to which would at once be closed so as to minimise heatloss. As shown in FIGURE 5, the mouth of each trunnion receiving opening19 is substantially wider than the inner end thereof adjacent bearingportions 75 to facilitate the engagement and withdrawal of the trunnionportions 74 in relation to the fulcrum brackets 15.

With a container of the size and capacity aforementioned, the total timeinvolved in initially orientating the discharge end 36 of the containerand engaging its trunnion member with the brackets 15 as depicted inFIG- URE 1, elevating the container into the charging position,

, charging the furnace and returning the container to the horizontalposition and withdrawing it clear of the charging opening should notexceed two minutes. Thus, the charging door 12a of each charging openingshould not be open during the complete scrap metal charging operationincluding the charging of any other unmelted materials in the containerfor a period of more than about two minutes, with the result that a veryimportant saving in heat loss is effected with a marked saving infurnace fuel as compared with the existing laborious practice ofcharging by means of a large number of small size containers as earlierdescribed.

In FIGURE 11 is depicted a modified form of the container 23, in whichfor the reason earlier described the container is again provided withtwo compartments 52, 53, but instead of the two compartments extendingparallel to one another they are mutually inclined so that the containeris viewed in plan, i.e. as inFIGURE 11 is of V-configurat-ion with theapex of the V at the discharge end 36. Such an arrangement permits ofthe outer sides 25, 26 of the two compartments being of straightconfiguration throughout their length right up to the discharge end 36,and as compared with the construction previously described providesduring charging a straight flow path for the whole of the material fromeither compartment right up to the discharge end 36. The twocompartments are of the same width through their length namely, bymaking the dividing partition 54 of similar V-configuration. Suchstraight flow path of the material as is obtained with the arrangementshown in FIGURE 11 facilitates the discharge of very long lengths ofscrap metal, e.g., of length similar to the overall length of eachcompartment and which might jam against the compartment or containersides in passing through the converging throat 33 of the constructiondepicted in FIGURES 3 and 6.

As shown in FIGURE ll each of the two outer sides 25, 26 are not exactlyparallel with the corresponding faces 54:: and 54b of the dividingpartition 54, each of the two sides 25, 26 diverging slightly relativeto the corresponding partition member walls 54a, 54b in the directionfrom the closed end of the container to 'the discharge end 36 so thatthe width of the discharge opening at the discharge end 36 is greaterthan the width of each compartment 52, 53 adjacent the closed end 30.The arrangement is accordingly such that the lateral walls at eachcompartment bounding each mass of ma terial flowing out of eachcompartment are slightly diverging throughout the length of thecompartment in the direction of flow right up to the position ofdischarge into the furnace, an arrangement which it is believed stillfurther facilitates the discharge of the material from the container.

A further advantage of the FIGURE 11 construction is that by reason ofthe relative inclination of the two compartments the directions ofdischarge of the material from each compartment and which arerespectively aligned with the length of each compartment 52, 53 are' atthe discharge nose 37 relatively inclined away from one another in adirection towards the furnace interior so that the material dischargedfrom the two compartments is spread over a great area of the meltingzone and a more uniform distribution of the scrap metal and other solidmaterial therein is obtained.

Apart from the above specified modifications the construction andoperation of the FIGURE 11 arrangement is similar to what has earlierbeen described.

What I claim then is:

1. A container for charging scrap metal into a steel furnace, saidcontainer being of elongated configuration and having a dischargeopening at one end thereof, a discharge door to said discharge opening,said container embodying a plurality of compartments of elongatedconfiguration extending in side-by-side relation along the length of theelongated container, said compartments being each adapted at one endthereof to communicate with the discharge opening to the container,closure means adapted to place one full compartment at a time incommunication with said discharge opening and, the

closure means common to a plurality of compartments and adapted in oneor another of a plurality of positions thereof to place one or anotherof each of said compartments in communication with the discharge openingof the container.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1 comprising a central partition memberextending along the length of the elongated container and dividing thisinto two compartments, a door hinged to the end of the partition memberwhich is nearest to the discharge opening of the container, said doorbeing adapted to provide a closure for one of the twocompartments, thedischarge door to said discharge opening being adapted to provide aclosure for the other of the two compartments.

4. In apparatus for charging scrap metal into open hearth steel furnacesthrough the charging opening thereof,

(a) a container for the scrap metal of elongated configuration,

(b) said container having a discharge opening at one end thereof,

(c) a discharge door to said discharge opening,

((1) said container comprising a plurality of compartments of elongatedconfiguration extending in sideby-side relation along the length of theelongated container, said compartments being each ada'pted at one endthereof to communicate with the discharge opening to the container,

(e) closure means adapted to place one full compartment at a time incommunication with said discharge opening,

(i) and a furnace engageable fulcrum member on the container adjacentthe discharge opening thereof extending transversely of the length ofthe elongated container.

5. Apparatus according to claim 2 wherein the container is provided withtwo compartments, said two compartments converging relatively in thedirection of discharge of the material so as to be adapted to dischargethe material along two relatively inclined paths which divergerelatively in thedirection of discharge of the material from thedischarge opening into the furnace interior.

6. Apparatus according to claim 5 wherein the container is ofV-configuration comprising a pair of mutually converging outer sidewalls, and a pair of mutually converging inner side walls, therespective walls being of straight configuration throughout their entirelength with one inner and one outer wall forming each of the twocompartments and the width of which at a position furthest from thedischarge end of the container is not greater than the width of saidcompartment at a position nearest the discharge end of the container.

7. In, apparatus for charging scrap metal into open hearth steelfurnaces through the charging opening thereof,

(a) a container for the scrap metal of elongated configuration,

(b) said container having a discharge opening at one end thereof,

(c) a discharge door to said discharge opening,

((1) said container comprising a plurality of compartments of elongatedconfiguration extending in sideby-side relation along the length of theelongated container, said compartments being each adapted at one endthereof to communicate with the discharge opening to the container,

(g) movable closure means common to a plurality of compartments andadapted in one or another of a plurality of positions thereof to placeone or another of each of the said compartments in communication withthe discharge opening of the container,

(j) the width of said compartments increasing progressively throughoutthe length of the container in a direction towards the discharge openingthereof, and

(k) the width of the discharge opening being greater than the width ofeach compartment at a position therein which is furthest from thedischarge open- 8. Apparatus according to claim 7 wherein the containeris provided with twocompartments, said two compartments convergingrelatively in the direction of discharge of the material so as to beadapted to discharge the material along two relatively inclined pathswhich diverge relatively in the direction of discharge of the materialfrom the discharge opening into the furnace interior.

9. Apparatus according to claim 8 wherein the container is ofV-configuration comprising a pair of mutually converging outer sidewalls, and a pair of mutually converging inner side walls, therespective walls being of straight configuration throughout their entirelength with one inner and one outer wall forming each of the twocompartments.

10. In apparatus for charging scrap metal into open hearth steelfurnaces through the charging opening thereof,

(a) a container for the scrap metal of elongated configuration,

(b) said container having a discharge opening at one end thereof,

(0) a discharge door to said discharge opening,

(d) said container comprising a plurality of compartments of elongatedconfiguration extending in sideby-side relation along the length of theelongated container, said compartments being each adapted at one endthereof to communicate with the discharge opening to the container,

(g) movable closure means common to a plurality of compartments andadapted in one or another of a plurality of positions thereof to placeone or another of each of the said compartments in communication withthe discharge opening of the container,

(j) the width of said compartments increasing progressively throughoutthe length of the container in a direction towards the discharge openingthereof,

(1) and furnace engageable fulcrum means on the container adapted topermit of the container fulcruming relative to the furnace during theoperating operation.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,833,586 5/1958McFeaters 294-73 GERALD M. FORLENZA, Primary Examiner.

R. G. SHERIDAN, Assistant Examiner.

4. IN APPARATUS FOR CHARGING SCRAP METAL INTO OPEN HEARTH STEEL FURNACESTHROUGH THE CHARGING OPENING THEREOF, (A) A CONTAINER FOR THE SCRAPMETAL OF ELONGATED CONFIGURATION, (B) SAID CONTAINER HAVING A DISCHARGEOPENING AT ONE END THEREOF, (C) A DISCHARGE DOOR TO SAID DISCHARGEOPENING, (D) SAID CONTAINER COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF COMPARTMENTS OFELONGATED CONFIGURATION EXTENDING IN SIDEBY-SIDE RELATION ALONG THELENGTH OF THE ELONGATED CONTAINER, SAID COMPARTMENTS BEING EACH ADAPTEDAT ONE END THEREOF TO COMMUNICATE WITH THE DISCHARGE OPENING TO THECONTAINER, (E) CLOSURE MEANS ADAPTED TO PLACE ONE FULL COMPARTMENT AT ATIME IN COMMUNICATION WITH SAID DISCHARGE OPENING, (I) AND A FURNACEENGAGEABLE FULCRUM MEMBER ON THE CONTAINER ADJACENT THE DISCHARGEOPENING THEREOF EXTENDING TRANSVERSELY OF THE LENGTH OF THE ELONGATEDCONTAINER.